Detained Mexican drug lords are reportedly upset with the conditions of the U.S. prisons they are being held in, saying the unnecessarily harsh conditions may be causing them physical and psychological harm.
The cartel members and leaders have taken to the courtroom to claim their treatment in U.S. prisons violates U.S.-Mexico extradition treaties.
The men being held are those suspected and/or convicted of taking part in or ordering the gruesome acts of violence against people in Mexico and the U.S.
However, Thursday, a U.S. judge conceded that their claims have some merit and ordered that Jesus Vicente Zambada Niebla, son of the Sinaloa cartel’s leader, should be allowed to leave his cell and have outdoor recreation time on a roof top.
Before the judge’s decision, Zambada, who himself is a ranking member of one of Mexico’s most violent and powerful cartels, was primarily confined to his 10x6-foot cell for what his lawyers said was, “18 months of isolation without seeing the sun or breathing fresh air.”
